Marcus Tullius Tiro
Overview
Tullius
Tullius was a Roman nomen. The feminine form was Tullia. Tully, especially as another name for Cicero, is an anglicized form now considered antiquated....
Tiro (d. ca. 4 BC?) was first a slave
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, then a freedman
Freedman
A freedman is a former slave who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves became freedmen either by manumission or emancipation ....
of Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
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The date of Tiro's birth is uncertain. From Jerome
Jerome
Saint Jerome was a Roman Christian priest, confessor, theologian and historian, and who became a Doctor of the Church. He was the son of Eusebius, of the city of Stridon, which was on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia...
it can be dated to 103 BC, which would make him only a little younger than Cicero. However, he may have been born considerably later than that: Cicero refers to him as a "young man" in 50 BC.
It is possible that Tiro was born a slave in Cicero's household in Arpinum and came with his family to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
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Unanswered Questions